Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: Wii U
Nintendo Download: Unepic, Castlevania II, F1 Race Stars
Three new games are now available through Nintendo’s eShop: Unepic, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, and F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition. All three are available to download from the Wii U eShop:
Unepic – In the middle of a role-playing game with his friends, the hero Daniel is teleported to a castle and thinks that he is having a hallucination. Help guide Daniel through an (un)epic platforming adventure through a massive, mysterious castle.
F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition – F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition takes Formula One over the top with new content for Wii U, including four extra tracks and bonus accessory packs! Featuring official cars and stars, use awesome power-ups on famous circuits transformed to feature jumps, loop-the-loops and shortcuts, then share the fun in split-screen!
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest – In this sequel to the original classic, take on the role of Simon Belmont, grab your legendary whip and roam freely through Transylvania on a quest to find Dracula’s missing body parts. In addition to intense action and tight control, this sequel also introduces several unique game-play elements to the legendary series. Build experience the longer you play, buy weapons and items from merchants or talk with villagers to get clues. Take a deep breath, steady your nerves and help Simon end his curse and defeat the count once and for all.
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is also available to download from the 3DS eShop. Like all Virtual Console titles, Nintendo considers them separate purchases on the Wii U and 3DS.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes Review: Amazing, Spectacular, and Fantastic
I’m normally not one to get into the Lego games. I played Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Lord of the Rings, but I usually found myself moving on to other games after a few hours of play. But not so with Lego Marvel Super Heroes. I’ve been playing this game nonstop, without touching any of my other PS4 titles. It’s that much fun. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a huge Marvel fan or if I have a serious case of OCD, but I’ve put over sixty hours into this title – and I’m still only at 85% complete. And most importantly, it has kept my interest the entire time. (more…)
Call of Duty: Ghosts Onslaught DLC Pack to be available on XBL Store on January 28
Activision and Infinity Ward have announced that the first map pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts, Onslaught, will be available to download from the Xbox Live Store (for both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One) on January 28.
The coolest map is clearly “Fog,” a love letter to the horror films of yesteryear. Players will even be able to become Halloween‘s Michael Myers and deliver the killing blow with a bloody axe. Players will also be able to frag their friends in the California boardwalk of “BayView,” the war-torn Mexican village of “Containment,” and the aging Florida space launch facility of “Ignition.”
Onslaught will also include a new weapon, a dual-purpose Assault Rifle/Sniper Rifle known as the Maverick, and “Nightfall,” a new chapter in humans vs aliens Extinction saga. In “Nightfall,” players will guide a small strike team to a snowy Alaskan base in search of the origins of the alien invasion (and to battle the biggest boss Infinity Ward has ever created).
Once again, Onslaught will be available to download through the Xbox Live Store on January 28 with a release on other platforms to follow. The DLC pack has been priced at $14.99 individually and will also be included as part of the $49.99 Season Pass.
More details about all of Onslaught’s maps can be found after the break. (more…)
Retro and Monolith Soft hiring… What does Nintendo have planned?
Two of Nintendo’s shining subsidiaries, Retro Studios and Monolith Soft, have both been busy advertising to fill several positions this week.
First up, Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft (translated by Siliconera) is urgently seeking a Game Planner, Town Planner, and Battle Algorithm Planner. The advert also called for people with experience in A.I. programming, as well as seeking battle animation designers. These roles are presumably for the Wii U title X, which seems to be related to the Xenoblade world. However, that game has a tentative release date sometime this year, so if the posts are for that project, it may mean that Monolith Soft is gearing up for crunch time or, more worryingly, that the RPG will be delayed. However, if you like your glass half full, it could mean that Monolith has something other than X in the works.
More recently, Zach Works, a recruiter for Nintendo, tweeted about a hiring spree at Retro’s Austin based offices.
Hey gang, #RetroStudios is hiring in Austin. Apply through the Nintendo job board: http://t.co/PjEQlI2il6
— Zach Works (@Zach_Works) January 9, 2014
While the company is still tweaking Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, that game is due out on February 21, so any hiring now would have to be for a completely new project. Could it be that Retro is returning to the Metroid series? Or will the company be moving on to another franchise in Nintendo’s massive library?
Two words: Star Fox.
We can but dream.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Xenoblade Chronicles X
2014 Writers Guild Awards nominees announced
The Writers Guild of America has announced the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Award. The award, which honors “Outstanding Achievement in Writing for Videogames,” will be given out on Saturday, February 1 during the 2014 Writers Guild Awards ceremony.
This year, the writers behind Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, and Lost Planet 3 will all battle it out for the award. A full list of every nominated writer can be found right here:
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft)
Story by Darby McDevitt, Mustapha Mahrach, Jean Guesdon
Lead Scriptwriter: Darby McDevitt
Scriptwriter: Jill Murray
AI Scriptwriter: Nicholas Grimwood
Scriptwriter Singapore: Mark Llabres HillBatman: Arkham Origins (Warner Bros. Interactive)
Narrative Director: Dooma Wendschuh; Writer & Senior Narrative Designer: Ryan Galletta
Writer: Corey MayGod of War: Ascension (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Written by Marianne Krawczyk
Additional Writing: Ariel LawrenceThe Last of Us (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Written by Neil DruckmannLost Planet 3 (Capcom)
Head Writer: Richard Gaubert
Writers: Orion Walker, Matt Sophos
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham Origins, God of War: Ascension, Lost Planet 3, The Last of Us
The Last of Us, Tearaway, Gone Home lead this year’s GDC Awards
The nominees for the 2014 Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced and The Last of Us, Gone Home, and Tearaway lead the field with five nominations apiece.
The Last of Us and Gone Home will be competing for this year’s Game of the Year award alongside Grand Theft Auto V, Super Mario 3D World, and Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto V are also in the running for multiple awards as each has been nominated in two additional categories.
Other multi-category nominees this year include The Stanley Parable, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Device 6, and Papers, Please.
This year’s Game Developers Choice Awards will be handed out on Wednesday, March 19 at the San Francisco Moscone Center during the 2014 Game Developers Conference. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged GDC 2014, Gone Home, Grand Theft Auto V, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider
Nintendo Download: Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder, Gradius, Cocoto Magic Circus 2
Welcome to another week of Nintendo downloads. Today, the company has added a trio of games to the Nintendo eShop… There’s the real-world picture-taking quest, Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder (3DS); the classic NES shooter, Gradius (Wii U); and a shooting gallery game, Cocoto Magic Circus 2 (Wii U).
More details on all three games can be found right here:
3DS eShop
Chibi-Robo!: Photo Finder – Become one of the world’s best tiny robot helpers by taking pictures of real-world objects using the Nintendo 3DS Camera to help open a new museum. Collect Happy Points by vacuuming, picking up trash and helping a cast of colorful characters. Collected Happy Points can be used to purchase in-game film that lets you photograph real-world objects and transport them into the game for the museum’s displays.
Wii U eShop
Gradius – In the classic game Gradius, pilot the Vic Viper through seven stages, while shooting, dodging and collecting various power-ups, including missiles, lasers and shields. The only way to end the war is to plunge deep through the enemy forces and destroy them from within.
Cocoto Magic Circus 2 – Knock out Cocoto’s enemies and save his friends!
Square Enix Montreal’s Hitman game has been canceled
Square Enix Montreal opened in 2011 and its first mission was to create a new game in the Hitman series for next-generation consoles. It looks like that mission is a failure as VideoGamer has surmised that the project has been terminated.
According to the LinkedIn profile of Senior Game Designer Richard Knight, the new Hitman game was to be a “re-imagining” of the character, going back to the roots of the first game, echoing what happened with the new Tomb Raider. However, the news does not mean the end for the bald and barcoded Agent 47. Square Enix Montreal is still in business and has shifted its focus to the mobile games market. And one of their mobile projects is an as-yet-untitled Hitman game that will soon be making its way to a smartphone/tablet near you.
As for a next-gen Hitman game, Square Enix has handed the reins back to IO Interactive, the company that created he franchise. The company plans to focus “resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise” and is already “in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project.” However, it’s unclear whether that title is the same one that Square Enix Monreal scrapped, or if it’s something completely different.